Sack racking and carrying means



April 16, 1957 P. w. PARKER 2,788,822

SACK BACKING AND CARRYING MEANS Filed April 11, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l 32 Fig./ /5 20 g/ fii/ 32 40 46 i" 38 46 26 WW Percy W. Parker IN VEN TOR.

April 16, 1957 P. w. PARKER SACK BACKING AND CARRYING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet '2 Filed April 11, 1955 I I l l llll I r I III-ml: llll llllllllll Illlllll 2 Parker Percy W.

IN VEN TOR. ml Y a United States Fatent SACK RACKING AND 'CARRYDTG IVIEANS Percy W. Parker, Monroe, Ln.

Application April 11, 1955, Serial No. 500,456

11 Claims. (Cl. 150-11) The present invention relates to novel and improved facilities expressly, but not necessarily, designed for fast, safe, neat and efi'icient handling of counter sacking requirements, and for handy use, for example, by a call oflice attendant in a laundry, a dry cleaning establishment, shoe repair shop or the like.

Stated otherwise, the over-all inventive concept has to do with improved canvas, drill or equivalent sacks, a novel carrying and bundling hanger for the sacks and fixture means functioning singly and collectively and enabling the carrydng out of an efficient system in a laundry or dry cleaning establishment which effects an appreciable saving in time, labor, trouble and money.

It is an objective to advance the art to which the invention relates. It is said that a problem solved is no longer a problem. It follows, therefore, that it is an object here to promote the progress of the art and to better solve the problems which have existed for some time in establishments in the category mentioned. Using sacks one at a time necessitates, in most cases, the use of one or more additional employees to assure customers quick, reliable and desired service. There has therefore existed for a long time a need for improved sacks and efiicient ways and means of expeditiously handling the same.

To the end that the desired results may be attained, it is an object of the invention to provide an easy-to-use sack rack having specially designed suspension hooks thereon to accommodate enough sacks, say twenty-five, to wait on twenty-five customers without having to obtain sacks one at a time and having to hang up each sack for each customers garments.

In carrying out the inventive ideas, for example, in the call ofiic'e of a dry cleaning and/or laundry establishment, provisions are made for the use of a sack carrier loaded with twenty-five sacks, this carrier being placed in a fixture or bracket fixed on the counter in handy and convenient reach of the attendant. In the event that one hundred sacks might be needed to take care of incoming soiled bundles, an additional seventy-five sacks are conveniently placed somewhere close to the attendant in bundles of twenty-five on the carrier around which the same are wrapped so that when the first twenty-five sacks have been exhausted by the first twenty-five customers, the carrier is removed and immediately replaced with an additional twenty-five sacks contained on the next readyto-use carrier so as to, in this manner, avoid the usual confusion and time consuming operation of taking one sack at a time, hanging it on holder hooks so as to service each individual customer.

instead of suspending and handling one sack at a time as has been the generally accepted practice in the trade, the instant matter has to do with the use of bundled or loaded hook equipped carriers so that after the first carrier has been emptied, so to speak, it may be sent to the marking department, empty, of course. At the marking department, the operator rehangs each sack on the previously empty cm'er until she has filled each respective 2,788,822 Patented Apr. 16, 1957 "ice 2 carrier to its capacity, at which time she returns it bundled or loaded and ready for use in the front call ofl'ice, so as to avoid handling the sack more than once, keeping in mind the fact that the marker conveniently has the sack in her hands so that by rehanging it, there is no need for a second person to pick up the sack and hang it on the sack rack. Placing the loaded 'carrier on the counter and replacing an empty carrier and pursuing the system which the invention makes possible, the steps make it possible to resort to a cycle of operation which involves, as stated, a procedure wherein one person can handle as many customers as it formerly took two or three to handle.

Along the same lines, it anobject to provide the equipment stated which will enable the employees or workers to work along in routine fashion without subjecting themselves to the Wear and tear of over active busy days. Then, too, there is less chance of mixed bundles, stray garments and the like. Also, there need be no cluttered up counters, garments on the floor and, as a matter of fact, even inexperienced hands need only minutes of instructions before they are ready 'to take over and handle their work requirements with expediency.

Furthermore, the invention is such that avoids the awkwardness of trying to place a plurality of garments or other items of laundry in a cloth sack with the laundry in one hand and the sack in the other. Also, one is able to avoid the risk of inadvertently placingthe laundry of one customer in the wagon or truck and permitting it to get mixed up with that of another customer.

More specifically, the preferred embodiment of the invention, from a structural pointof view, has to do with the combination of a rigid portable sack rack, carrier and hanger member which is adapted to be removably mounted on the side of the counter which is availably accessible to the attendant. A batch of duplicate orderly stacked back-to-back empty flexible sacks are provided, and the mouth portions of the sacks are readily openable so that the front wall of each progressively availablesack may be grasped and handily spread open with one hand and the intended article, or articles, raked from the counter with the other hand into the selected sack by way of the then open mouth of the sack, hanging and holding means being provided on said member whereby the batch of sacks are readily attached to and subsequently detached one by one from said member, this hanging means serving to reasonably well tauten and suspend what may be called the back walls of the sacks by way of said member and means so that the front walls may be caught hold of, stretched and pulled toward the attendant in a manner to thus open the mouth of the sack, then released so that the then loaded sack may be detached to bring the next available empty sack to its usable position.

Finally, the invention appertains to an improved sack, the back wall of which is defined, so to speak, by the selected position of the spaced grommets near the open mouth of the sack, one grommet being spaced inwardly from the longitudinal fold of the sack and the other being located in close proximity to the remaining fold or lengthwise side, said sack having a large hem and a small draw cord with ends which extend approximately six inches out from the right hand grommet and are in the right hand each time the sack is ready to be removed from the carrier.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a complete ready-to-use assemblage mounted on a fragmentary portion of a counter, for example, a counter such as is used in a call oifice', illustrating a plurality of sacks on the car- 3 tier rack with the latter bracketed to the fixture on the counter and with the outermost sack in readiness to receive the laundry or other articles;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the unit or member which is identified as the sack rack, carrier and hanger;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the supporting fixture or bracket for said hanger; 7

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional View of the hanger member fitted removably in the fixture with the sacks omitted, the hooks appearing in elevation;

Figure 5 is a rear elevation of one of the improved sacks;

Figure 6 is an exaggerated fragmentary section on the plane of the vertical line 66 of Figure 5; t

Figure 7 is a perspective view illustrating the aforementioned bundle, this characterized by a plurality of sacks rolled up or wrapped around the hanger member or rack; and t Figure 8 is a view on a smaller scale with parts in section and elevation, the purpose of which is to show how a loaded or filled and ready-to-remove sack is maneuvered up and in a step-by-step manner readily released from the suspension hooks.

Referring now to the drawings with the aid of reference numerals and lead lines, attention is first called to Figure 1 wherein the aforementioned call office counter is denoted by the numeral 10. The top of the counter is at 12 and the flange at 14. It will be understood in this connection that the numeral designates any appropriate stationary support and that the invention may be used thereon whether it is in a truck, at a drivedn window or in some similar work collecting and sacking system or business. The fixture which is applicable to the support means 10 is denoted by the numeral 16 and it is sometimes treated as a bracket. prises a flat rigid bar or plate 18 having holes 20 therein at suitable places to accommodate the wood screws or equivalent fasteners in the manner shown, for example, in Figure 4, the screws being denoted at 22. At the respective ends of the bracket, I provide keepers. These may be of some other construction, but preferably are of the formtshown and denoted generally by the numerals 24-24. Each keeper is made up of cooperating connected walls 26, 28 and 30. These keepers are sometimes referred to as keeper hooks. They are thus constructed to accommodate the insertable and removable end portions 32 of the plate or rigid bar-like hanger member 34. This hanger member is sometimes referred to as a multipurpose member which is a rack,

hanger and carrier. The plate portion 36 corresponds to and fits firmly against the plate portion of the fixture or bracket in the manner illustrated so that it may be readily, inserted and removed. It is provided inwardly of the ends with suspension hooks for 'a plurality of sacks denoted individually by the numerals 38. Each hook comprises a suitably elongated shank 40, the length of which depends upon the number of sacks to be hung or suspended thereon. Usually, the sacks are bunched in batches of each. There is a return bend 42 at the outer end which defines what may be called the hook 44, the terminal or bill of which is at 46. These portions 42, 44 and 46 shape up to provide an efiectual hook for the grommet equipped rear wall of each sack. The rear wall of the sack is denoted at 48, and the grommets are denoted at 50 at the left and 52 at the right, and they are spaced apart a distance equivalent to the space between the hooks. The front wall 54 of the sack shown in Figure 1 is wider than the back wall and the upper mouth portion is allowed to droop or hang down to a normal or natural open position, a portion in which it is in readiness to receive the articles which are sacked therein. The bottom of the sack is denoted at 56 and the longitudinal folds or sides at 58 and 60. The numerals 62 designate diagonal lines of stitching which define corner flaps 64. There is a wide hem 66 at the top It preferably comrasses Y I The free ends extend through the open end portions 65 V and 67 (Fig. 1) of the hem and are denoted at 74 and 76, and they are secured together by a knot 78, and this knotted portion is always handy and close to the grommet 52 where it may be easily grasped in a manner to be further described. The grommet 52 is therefore close to the fold line 69, and as before stated, the grommet 50 is spaced to the right or inwardly of the fold line 58.

As has already been pointed out, the hook-equipped carrier or hanger 34 is such that it will function to hang up twenty-five sacks in readiness for use. Easy inventory for the sacks is provided, especially in returning same to branch stores and for use in trucks. By wrapping the sacks around the carrier or hanger as brought out in Figure 7, it is possible to count bundles instead of indi- The hooks are made the correct length to be noticed that the curl of the hooks is such as to force the operator to remove each sack properly so that the draw cord is handily in the right hand. The garments are prevented from entangling on the hooks when the sack is being filled. The long shanks provide handles forlifting the carrier and inserting it in the support bracket or fixture or removing it therefrom.

It will be seen in Figure 5 that each grommet is reinforced by a suitably inserted piece of leather or the like, as at 80. The leather is such that it can be washed in a temperature of 212 without hardening or losing its flexibility. As pointed out, the draw cord extends approximately six inches out from the sack to the right hand grommet and is in the right hand each time the sack is removed from the carrier, as is clear from examining Figure 1 in conjunction with Figure 8. As already pointed out, the draw cord is anchored at 72 at the left side of the center. The bottom corners 64 provide hand grips when emptying the contents of the sack and prevent the operator from grasping the contents of the sack. They also prevent small articles from getting into the corners of the sack.

The wide hem at the top permits the sack to close from the weight of one garment. It also empties itself when the sack is turned or held upside down and forcibly jerked, permitting the contents to catapult out through the then open mouth or top. 7

One, after familiarizing himself with this invention and the procedural steps, will be able to appreciate that the fixture 16 is permanently mounted on the call ofiice counter and is fully loaded with twenty-five sacks. The end portions of the sack-equipped hanger 34 are dropped into the keepers and the assembly is ready for use. The next step is that when the customer comes in, his name is entered on a ticket and the ticket then goes into the sack first, that is, the then available first sack. Then, the clothes are raked off the counter and into the sack with one hand and the mouth or the front wall of the sack is held open to accomplish this. The sack is then removed from the sack rack in the manner which is brought out, it is believed, in Figure 8. The'draw cord is in the right hand each time the sack is removed from the sack rack, and as soon as one sack is taken oif, the next sack is ready for the next customer. At the markers table, the clothes are quickly emptied from the sack. The empty sack rack is placed in a hanger fixture mounted nearby, for example, which is permanently mounted on a markers table. The ticket that went in first is now on top of the customers clothes. The empty sack is placed on the sack rack on the markers table. When the sack rack on the front counter is empty, said rack is removed and a fully loaded, read'y-to-use assembly is dropped in place so that the cycle of operation may be carried on almost without hesitation or hinderance.

Changes in shape, size; materials and rearrangement of parts may be resorted to in actual practice without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. For convenient and systematic use in expediting the handling and sacking of laundry or the like either by a driver on route service or an employee at the receiving counter at a laundry, dry cleaning establishment or the like, in combination, a hanger fixture in the form of a bracket, the latter applicable rigidly to a relatively stationary support, a counter, for example, said bracket characterized by a fiat plate having keepers at its respective ends, a sack racking, hanger and carrier plate for a plurality of readily attachable and detachable laundry sacks substantially commensurate in length with the length of said bracket and superimposed against the cooperating surface of the bracket and having its ends adaptably and releasably fitted into said keepers, and means secured to said carrier plate and adapted to accommodate the aforementioned laundry accumulating and handling sacks each of which has an open mouth at its upper end and is provided on one side with spaced attaching grommets cooperable with the stated means.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 and wherein said keepers are vertically disposed, are open at their upper ends and closed at their lower ends in a manner to effectively hold the cooperating ends of said plate removably in supported position, and wherein the stated means comprises a pair of hooks secured to and projecting laterally from one face of said suspension and carrier plate, said hooks having long shank portions and bill portions, the latter being adapted to accommodate the stated grommets, said shanks being sufficiently long to simultaneously accommodate grommets on a batch, twenty-five more or less, of laundry sacks.

3. For convenient and systematic use in expediting the handling of articles picked up for placement in accumulating and handling sacks therefor either by a driver on route service or a duly appointed employee at the receiving counter in a laundry, dry cleaning establishment, shoe repair shop or the like comprising a rigid substantially fiat carrier plate adapted to be detachably supported on a relatively stationary support, and a pair of sack attaching and suspending hooks attached to and projecting laterally from opposite end portions of said plate, each hook embodying a relatively long shank of a length to accommodate attaching grommets on a plurality, twentyfive more or less, or" article accumulating and handling sacks, the outer end of each shank having a return bend defining an upwardly and inwardly directed elongated hook, said hook having a bill portion directed downwardly toward the shank and said return bend being directed toward said plate and spaced for clearance for easily attaching and detaching said sacks.

4. For convenient and systematic use in expediting the handling of dry cleaning work or laundry picked up for placement in accumulating and handling sacks either by a driver on route service or a duly appointed employee at the receiving counter in a laundry establishment or the like comprising a rigid substantially flat carrier membcr adapted to be detachably supported on a relatively stationary support, and a pair of sack attaching and suspending hooks attached to and projecting laterally from opposite end portions of said plate, each hook embodying a relatively long shank of a length to accommodate attaching grommets on a plurality, twenty-five or less, of laundry accumulating and handling sacks, the outer end of each shank having a return bend defining an inwardly and upwardly directed elongated hook, said hooks being spaced apart a predetermined distance, and the combination therewith of a plurality of laundry accumulating and handling sacks having spaced grommets detachably mounted on their respective shanks and held against accidental displacement on the shanks by way of the stated hooks, said grommets being spaced apart a distance equal to the existing space between said hooks and the distance being equal to the width of what constitutes the essential portion of the back wall of the sack.

5. For fast, safe and efiicient counter sacking requirements and handy use by a call office attendant, a ready-touse supply of empty dry cleaning and soiled laundry sacks comprising, in combination, a rigid portable sack rack, carrier, and hanger member adapted to be removably mounted on the side of the counter which is availably accessible to the attendant, a batch of duplicate orderly stacked back-to-back empty flexible laundry sacks, the mouth portions of said sacks being readily openable so that the front wall of each progressively available sack may be grasped and handily spread open with one hand and the intended article, or articles, raked from the counter with the other hand into the selected sack by way of the then open mouth of said sack, and hanging and holding means on said member where-by the batch of sacks are readily attached to and subsequently detached one-by-one from said member, said means serving to reasonably well tauten and suspend the back walls of the sacks by way of said member and means so that the front walls may be caught hold of, stretched and pulled toward the attendant in a manner to thus open the mouth of the sack, then released so that the then loaded sack may be detached to bring the next available empty sack to its usable position.

6. For fast, safe and efiicient use on a counter sacking area of a work receiving counter in a laundry call ofiice, ready-to-use equipment for the counter attendant comprising, in combination, a rigid flat elongate plate constituting a sack rack, carrier and hanger, said plate being adapted to be removably supported in a support bracket expressly provided therefor mounted on a predetermined portion of said counter so that it will be handy and accessible for the attendant, duplicate laundry sacks stacked one upon the other and providing a handy batch of twenty-five, more or less, and from which batch the sacks are selected and progressively used one-by-one, each sack embodying front and back walls connected by longitudinal walls, the back walls of each having a pair of spaced apart grommets, a pair of elongate shanks attached to and extending laterally from said plate, the respective pairs of grommets of the over-all batch of sacks being lined up, said shanks extending through and outwardly beyond their respective grommets and each shank terminating in a relatively long upturned return bend, the latter paralleling the adjacent portion of the shank and providing a sack retaining hook, said hooks serving to detachably mount the entire batch of sacks on the one plate and allowing the sacks to be coiled around both hooks and plate and one another to provide a compact easy-to-handle bundle.

7. The structure defined in claim 6 and wherein each sack has a broad hem at the open mouth provided with a draw cord, said draw cord having available end portions secured together by a knot and said knotted end portions extending beyond one grommet, the grommet which is normally at the right of the user, whereby the exposed and accessible end portions of the draw cord are positioned for handy closing of the sack after it is detached from the carrier member by way of the suspension hooks and grommets.

8. For use in conjunction with a sack rack of the type described, a sack having front and back walls and closed at the bottom and open at the top and having longitudinal folds defining lengthwise sides, said back wall being provided with spaced apart grommets, there being two such grommets adapted to be removably hung on suspension hooks, the mouth portion of said bag having a broad hem, and a draw cord secured intermediate its ends in the hem adjacent to but beyond one grommet, end portions of said cord being available adjacent the opposite grommet and secured together.

9. The structure defined in claim 8, and wherein each grommet is provided with a complemental leather patch which surrounds the grommet and is located in the (:0- operating portion of the hem and is sandwiched between and secured to the usual wall portions of the hem, whereby to thus reinforce the place of anchorage of said grommet and to thus stubbornly resist any tendency of the grommet to loosen and detach itself, despite the severity of stresses and strains encountered during day-to-day use.

10. The structure defined in claim 8, and wherein said hem, adjacent to the other grommet is split transversely 20 to provide cord string openings through and beyond which the sack closing end portions of said draw cord extend and are handily accessible, said last named grommet, exit openings and end portions of said draw cord being in close proximity to each other for systematic cooperation and functioning. V r I H 11. The structure defined in claim 10, and wherein said split portions are in alignment with a seam present in said sack and defining one lengthwise side of the sack, whereby the upper edge of the front wall of the sack will be possessed of an intended degree of slack and will therefore sag, when the sack is in use, to allow said front wall to intentionally droop to the requisite degree of full ness and to facilitate the intended step of catching hold of the hem portion of said front wall so that the mouth of the sack may be opened up with the greatest of ease.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 511,156 Newton Dec. 19,

981,639 Hall Jan. 17, 1911 1,136,138 Izett Apr. 20, 1915 2,078,438 Baxter Apr. 27, 1937 

